LETTS 1 *.. XXV H, 



as to kill a bitch that had been put to them as a nuir&e. 

 A live cat being thrown to th^ni, they immediately 

 killed it, and sucked the blood, but would not eat the 

 ilesh. The male never allowed the female' to par-take 

 oi iiis food until he had satisfied his own appetite. 



One of these animals, exhibited at Newcastle, al- 

 though extremely old, shewed evident marks of un- 

 tameable ferocity. It was kept closely confined, and 

 would not admit of being caressed by its keeper, but 

 growled continually, and always appeared in motion, 



The ocelot, especially the male, is extremely beau- 

 .tiful, and its fur is most elegantly variegated. Its ge- 

 neral colour is a bright tasvney : its forehead and legs 

 are spotted with black, and a stripe of the same co- 

 lour extends along the top of its back from head to 

 tail. Its shoulders, sides and rump are beautifully 

 marbled with long stripes of black, forming oval fi- 

 gures, filled in the middle with small black spots, 

 and its tail is irregularly marked with similar spots. 

 The colours of the female are less vivid, arid also less 

 beautifully arranged than those of the male. In 

 shape, this animal resembles the common cat, but is 

 much larger, being, according to Button, two feet 

 and an half high, and four feet in length. 



The ocelot is a native of South America, and is 

 also found in America. It lives chiefly in the moun- 

 tains, and conceals itself in the leafy tops of trees, 

 from whence it darts upon such animals as come 

 within its reach. It sometimes stretches itself along 

 the branches, as if it were dead, till the monkeys, 

 prompted by their natural curiosity, come within its 

 reach, and experience the fatality of their mistake. 



THE MARUAY 



is smaller than the ocelot, being nearly of the size cf 

 the wild cat, which it resembles in its habits and cha- 

 racteristic propensities' It is sometimes called the 

 Cayenne cat* and is common in Brazil, and various 

 parts of South America. Several species of this ani- 

 mal are found in India, and in the southern parts of 

 Africa; but these in general have been so negligently 

 observed, or so injudiciously represented by travel- 



